The High Court has refused to halt the prosecution of C. McL. on charges of violent disorder and assault causing harm arising from an alleged incident on Henry Street, Dublin, in February 2022.
In a judgment delivered on 20 July 2026, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan found that the authorities had delayed the case excessively and blameworthily while C. McL. was still a child. However, she ruled that the prejudice caused by that delay did not reach the exceptional level required to prohibit the prosecution.
C. McL. was 15 at the time of the alleged offences. He was identified from CCTV in August 2022, interviewed in February and March 2023 and later spent time in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme process. The investigative file was not sent to the DPP until July 2024, and he was charged on 5 November 2024, nine days before his eighteenth birthday.
An urgent attempt to bring the case before the Children Court was made on 11 November, but the jurisdiction question was not decided before he turned 18.
The High Court found that this caused real prejudice. C. McL. lost access to the Children Court procedure under section 75 of the Children Act 2001, along with child-specific anonymity protections and the possibility of summary disposal carrying a lower maximum custodial sentence.
Four co-accused who remained under 18 were dealt with summarily in the Children Court, which the judge said gave some support to C. McL.’s argument that his case might also have stayed there. However, that remained only a reasonable possibility because jurisdiction decisions are individual to each child.
The court also stressed that the charges allege serious group violence in a public place and significant injury, while no evidence had been lost and a fair trial remained possible.
The prosecution will therefore continue. An interim reporting restriction protecting C. McL.’s identity remains in force pending a further order on its final scope and duration, along with costs and related matters.